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Women, sexual harassment, and other challenges faced in the job-seeking process
Mahtab Safi* and Freshta Ghani wrote this report for the Zan Times about the challenges faced by women seeking employment under the Taliban. Rustam Seerat translated it from Persian to English.
In June 2023, Farida*, an economics graduate with two years of work experience, had been job hunting for a year and a half in Sar-e-Pol province. The 32-year-old says that finding a job has been as challenging as finding a needle in a haystack. She submitted more than 30 job applications before she was shortlisted for a position as a social worker in a local organization and went to take a test at their office. Farida was the only woman competing against eight men for this position when a man she believed was the head of the organization entered the room to oversee the exam. After glancing at Farida, he quietly asked her to come to his office after the exam.
Seated behind his desk, the executive greeted her with a smile. As Farida began discussing her work experience as a social worker, the organization’s head interjected, saying, “Your clothes fit you well. Are you married or single?” Farida tells Zan Times that she replied that she was the mother of five children, he…
